The Snail and the Whale - Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler

As say the opening lines of this wonderful book: This is the tale of a tiny snail. And a great big, grey-blue humpback whale...... I think most people are aware of the Gruffalo, especially those with children, but for those who need a little introduction, The Gruffalo is the book which shot Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler to fame back in March 1999. Julia's beautiful, flowing words were accompanied by Axels stunning, colourful and exciting illustrations. After reading The Gruffalo (a few million times, I can recite it word for word) I didn't honestly believe I would find my son a book that ... more

The Snail and the Whale Another Julia Donaldson book, and one which is a real favourite of Little Miss. THE STORY AND ILLUSTRATIONS The story and illustrations really complement each other and give the story an almost melodious and certainly timeless appeal. We start with a small snail who lives on a rock in a very busy harbour. The picture shows all of the boats and the lighthouse, and we get a feeling of movement and of ships visiting far flung lands and understand why the snail feels that he wants to see more than just his rock and its immediate surroundings. The other snails don't ... more

'The Snail and the Whale' is a particularly endearing picture book for young children written and ilustrated by the fantastic team of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, probably best known for 'The Gruffalo' At the start of the book we meet a little sea snail who is full of wonderlust and longs to travel the world. He is not like all the other sea snails who seem content to stay on their one smooth black rock. So the little sea snail takes matters into his own hands (mataphorically speaking of course!) and uses his slithery trail to write a message on the rock - 'lift wanted around the world ... more

Book Details Published by Macmillan in 2004 32 pages Available in both soft and hardback Age Suitability 3-5years (see my comments in general opinion) Synopsis This is the story of a tiny snail who longs to explore the great wild world someday, so he hitches a ride with a friendly whale. Together, the two of them have numerous adventures throughout their wonderful journey. The two of them travel across the world coming across no end of exciting new things such as volcanoes, and icebergs. They also meet a number of friends along the way including cute little penguins and great big sharks. The ... more

This has to be my favourite childrens book. "This is the tale of a tiny snail and the great big, grey-blue humpback whale" The snail wanted to travel but she was to small to go far on her own, after leaving a message (saying "lift wanted aroud the world") trailing across a big rock near the seas edge a humpback whale comes to her aid and offers the snail the trip of a life time, they visit various seas and continents and marvel at the beautiful things the natural world has to offer. One day the whale gets into trouble when people in speed boats make the whale lose his way and the whale gets ... more